I’m not a resolution-maker, but there is something magical about the newness of January. I love a fresh start. We drove back to Boston from Virginia on the first day of the new year, which gave us plenty of time to talk about our plans and hopes and dreams for 2015.
Soren had to be Adriel’s doctor one last time before leaving Grandmama and Pappy’s house.
Checking the heartbeat via the mouth. Very effective.
Although I don’t have any photos to illustrate this, I must document the saddest part of our January. Soren decided to call it quits with the breastmilk. My 29-month-old darling no longer needs me. It had been a gradual process, so the first day of no nursing didn’t seem very out of the ordinary. But the idea was a little bit heartbreaking. I guess it’s time to have another baby.
Soren’s sleep habits still get out of whack once every few weeks. Every so often, he’ll wake up early from his nap, crying his lights out. If I bring him into my bed quickly enough, he’ll fall back asleep snuggled up next to me. And then I try to put my to-do list out of my head and enjoy the moment.
![My heart melts a little bit when Soren plays both creatively and independently. This one was, "Mama, comeeyah [come here]. They're watchin' traffic."](http://ashleydickson.com/images/IMG_20150108_190059_1-682x1024.jpg)
My heart melts a little bit when Soren plays both creatively and independently. This one was, “Mama, comeeyah [come here]. They’re watchin’ traffic.”
They mostly looked like this.
And then we would jump in the warm car and scan through the photos and realize we all looked frozen and stupid, so we’d drive to another Cambridge spot and try again. Tim and Soren would stay in the car while Rachael and I would scout out a spot that didn’t look like ugly winter. How about a random stone wall at the divinity school?
Finally, we told Soren we’d get hot chocolate after if we could just take a few more photos. I’m pretty sure he’s crying out, “HOT CHOCOLATE” here.
This was literally the only photo out of about 100 that worked. Soren’s not looking so hot, but we all have our eyes open and that’s good enough for me. Now that it’s early February I think I’ll mail out our cards. Want one? Send me your address.
Sometimes we just take selfies.
Tim’s grandparents sent us a few packages filled with fresh Arizona citrus. When we found the boxes on the doorstep, Soren told me, “I’ll carry them cause Mama’s too heavy.” Ooooookay.
Just a regular day at playgroup, building the “longest train in the world.” The best is when you watch Soren attach magnetic train cars together and you hear him talking about “positives and negatives” under his breath.
Tim’s parents flew in for MLK day weekend, so we paid a visit to the Museum of Science together. Soren explored a spaceship.
I let Soren sit in the dinosaur’s footprint before I saw the sign.
The next weekend we got our first real snowstorm of the winter. Half a foot fell pretty quickly, so we went out first thing to play.
I ditched the sledding party early to go shovel the driveway, and this snowman disaster happened in my absence. Not sure why they selected a spot under some heavy tree cover.
Saturday, January 24 was officially the best night of my life. I saw Garth Brooks in the flesh.
“Better than our wedding night?” Tim asked hesitantly. Sorry. It’s Garth.
A few days later we got another dusting of snow, adding two feet to what was already on the ground. Tim had shoveling duty this time. Sometimes we wonder why we were so desperate for a driveway when we moved in?
The blizzard was a little bizarre since it was incredibly windy. In some spots, there were four feet of snow, in others there was no accumulation. Exhibit A.
Everyone was Instagramming and Facebooking about their awesome snow day fun, but it turns out snow days are hard work when you’re cooped up with a two-year-old. So… we took down our Christmas tree. January 27. Is that a record?
The day after the blizzard was sunny and just warm enough to melt some of the snow. I refused to stay indoors again. Out we went.
Schools were canceled, so we were expecting to fight for parking and dino-viewing space at Harvard’s Museum of Natural History. Turns out we were the only ones who made it outside. We had the place to ourselves and had the time of our lives.
That day was also my six-year Bosto-versary. Pizza was the obvious choice. (The green eggs and ham pizza from Proper Slice is a weird winner for us. Pesto, mozz, prosciutto, red bliss potatoes, perfectly cooked eggs. Don’t knock it ’til you try it.) Celebrating a Bosto-versary in the middle of a blizzard is very fitting. And I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
Part of our monthly family theme includes a song and a scripture that we sing/read each morning. We’ve been using this scripture study method for a few months, and Soren largely ignores the scripture reading part, opting to play while Tim and I say the scripture. On the last day of the month, I told him I’d give him a chocolate chip if he’d say the scripture with us. Turns out the little stinker had the whole thing memorized all along. His voice is pretty quiet in the video, and he’s really hard to understand, but here’s the text of Doctrine & Covenants 58:27 if you want to try to catch what he’s saying: “Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.” This kid kills me.
Tagged: blizzard, Burdick, Burdick's, Garth Brooks, Harvard Museum of Natural History, Museum of Science, Proper Slice, snow
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